Pakistani forces have killed 25 suspected militants in a two-week operation to secure the frontier city of Peshawar, which sits on a key supply route for the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, an official said on Monday. Security forces backed by warplanes and artillery have swept through an area between the city and Pakistan's wild tribal belt, where Taleban and Al-Qaida militants have found refuge. Zafrullah Khan, commander of paramilitary Frontier Constabulary troops in the area, said his force and police had taken control of 22 out of the 25 targeted villages and would clear the others within a week. “The militants in these areas have been a big threat to the writ of the government,” Khan said. “They have been a main source and origin of crimes in Peshawar and other cities of the province.” Some 25 suspects have been killed and another 35 arrested during the operation, he said. He said those detained included foreigners, but provided no details. Four suicide jackets as well as weapons including guns, rockets and grenades were seized, he said. Rising violence in the northwest, including the shooting death of an American aid worker in Peshawar, have heightened concern that the city itself is under threat. Pakistani troops have been battling Taleban militants in Bajaur, a nearby tribal region since August. The fighting has spread to neighboring Mohmand, which borders the villages targeted in the sweep near Peshawar. The city is a vital hub for military and relief efforts in Pakistan's northwest as well as lying on a supply route for foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan. Bomb blast injures eight A bomb blast injured at least eight people on Monday at a mosque in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, officials said. The bomb, planted inside a minority Shiite sect mosque in the crowded neighbourhood of Hashtnagri, went off just after evening prayers, they said. “Eight people are injured in the bomb blast,” said area police official Saleem Khan. Doctors at Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital said that the victims were in a stable condition. Provincial police chief Malik Naveed said that it was a low-intensity blast.“The bomb was planted in a room where the custodian of the mosque was sitting with some guests,” Naveed said.
